1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an information processing technology, and more particularly to an information processing device having a graphic processor for executing image processing operations, and a data transmission method of that device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer graphics technologies and image processing technologies for use in the fields of computer games, digital broadcasting, and the like have made significant progress in recent years. Information processing devices such as computers, game consoles, and television sets are thus in need of capabilities for processing image data of higher definitions at higher speed accordingly. These information processing devices are then equipped with a graphic processor dedicated to image processing aside from their main processors for ordinary arithmetic processing, so that the main processors are freed from image processing for reduced system overhead.
In order for these information processing devices to achieve sophisticated arithmetic processing, it is effective to constitute their main processors as multiprocessors. Multiprocessors assign a plurality of tasks to a plurality of processors thereof for parallel processing. Meanwhile, graphic processors perform image processing corresponding to the plurality of tasks processed by the main processors, so as to correspond to the high-speed operations of the main processors. The resulting image frames and other data are typically stored into memories once and displayed on displays or the like in order.
As computer images, television images, and the like grow in definition, and the image data increases in size, memories of greater capacities have become necessary to store the image data generated by the graphic processors. Moreover, performing image processing at high speed and making screen display at high frame rates requires main processors which are capable of high-speed processing, and memories that can be accessed at high speed by the graphic processors and the like. In response to these demands, the devices are ever increasing in total cost, thereby creating a high barrier against the prevalence of the devices and their application technologies.